The present invention relates to a device package and a device encapsulation method and, more particularly, to an organic electroluminescence (EL) device package and an encapsulation method of encapsulating an organic EL device in a package.
An organic EL device is formed by interposing a multilayered structure constituted by a light-emitting layer and a hole injection layer/electron injection layer between a pair of electrodes on a substrate. The multilayered structure is constituted by a light-emitting layer made of a fluorescent organic solid such as anthracene and a hole injection layer made of a triphenyl amine derivative or the like; a light-emitting layer and an electron injection layer made of a perylene derivative; or a hole injection layer, a light-emitting layer, and an electron injection layer.
The organic EL device formed in this manner utilizes an emission phenomenon which occurs when electrons and holes injected into the light-emitting layer are recombined. Hence, if the thickness of the light-emitting layer of the organic EL device is decreased, the organic EL device can be driven at a low voltage of, e.g., about 4 V, and has a high response speed.
The fluorescent organic solid as the material of the light-emitting layer of the organic EL device is not resistant to water and oxygen. The characteristics of the electrodes formed on the light-emitting layer directly or through the hole injection layer/electron injection layer tend to be degraded due to oxidation. As a result, if a conventional organic EL device is driven in the atmosphere, its emission characteristics are sharply degraded. To obtain a practical organic EL device, the device must be encapsulated so that water or oxygen does not enter the light-emitting layer, thereby prolonging the service life.
As the encapsulation structure, a structure in which a resin or the like is directly applied to the organic EL device, or a structure in which a gas or liquid is filled in the encapsulation space is available. A filled structure type organic EL device encapsulation method will be described with reference to FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 5, an anode 12 and a cathode 14a each formed of an indium-tin oxide (ITO) film, an organic EL device 13, and a cathode 14b formed of a metal film are sequentially formed on a glass substrate 11 to form an organic EL device. An encapsulation cap 15 made of glass is placed on the substrate 11 and adhered with an adhesive 18 to encapsulate the organic EL device.
The encapsulation cap 15 has such a shape that it can maintain a hollow portion 16 to be filled with an inert gas. Because of the poor heat resistance of the organic EL device, the substrate 11 and cap 15 are bonded to each other by using room-temperature curing or the UV curing adhesive 18.
In the conventional encapsulation method described above, an interface is present between the substrate 11 and adhesive 18 and between the cap 15 and adhesive 18. Accordingly, external oxygen or water enters from the outside at the interface to cause degradation of the organic EL device, thus shortening the service life of the organic EL device.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device package that can prolong the service life of the device, and a device encapsulation method.
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a device encapsulation method comprising the steps of forming a device having an anode and a cathode on a substrate made of a thermoplastic resin, and placing a cap made of the same thermoplastic resin as that forming the substrate on the substrate to surround the device and thereafter welding an end face of the cap on at least the substrate.